Jeremiah 25:36

A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(36) A voice of the cry . . . shall be heard.—Here again the insertion of the words in italics is a change for the worse, and reduces the dramatic vividness of the Hebrew to the tamest prose. The prophet speaks as if he actually heard the “cry of the shepherds”—i.e., the princes—and the howling of the “principal of the flocks”—i.e., of the captains under them. The work of spoiling was begun.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 25:36-38. A voice of the cry of the shepherds — Those are great calamities indeed that strike such a terror upon great men, and put them into this mighty consternation. For the Lord hath spoiled their pasture — In which they fed their flock, and out of which they fed themselves; the spoiling of this makes them cry out thus. Carrying on the metaphor of a lion roaring, the prophet alludes to the great fright into which shepherds are put when they hear a roaring lion coming toward them, and find that neither they nor their flocks can escape. And the peaceable habitations are cut down — Those that used to be quiet and not molested, who had long dwelt in peace and safety, shall now be exposed to all the calamities of war, and shall be thereby destroyed; or, those that used to be peaceable, and not to molest any of their neighbours, nor give provocation to any, shall yet not escape. This is one of the direful effects of war, that even those that are most harmless and inoffensive, often suffer hard things. Blessed be God, there is a peaceable habitation above for all the sons of peace, which is out of the reach of fire and sword.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:30-38 The Lord has just ground of controversy with every nation and every person; and he will execute judgment on all the wicked. Who can avoid trembling when God speaks in displeasure? The days are fully come; the time fixed in the Divine counsels, which will make the nations wholly desolate. The tender and delicate shall share the common calamity. Even those who used to live in peace, and did nothing to provoke, shall not escape. Blessed be God, there is a peaceable habitation above, for all the sons of peace. The Lord will preserve his church and all believers in all changes; for nothing can separate them from his love.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hath spoiled - Or, spoileth.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

35. Literally, "Flight shall fail the shepherds … escaping (shall fail) the principal," &c. (Am 2:14). The leaders will be the first objects for slaughter; escape by flight will be out of their power.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That is, there shall be heard a great outcry of the princes and rulers, when they shall see how the Lord hath spoiled the cities in which, and their people upon which, they have lived, and amongst whom they were wont to feed securely.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And a voice of the cry of the shepherds,.... Or of the kings, as the Targum:

and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard; of the mighty of the people, as the same; what is before called for is here represented as in fact, because of the certainty of it:

for the Lord hath spoiled their pastures: their kingdoms, provinces, cities, and towns; or their people, as the Targum, among whom they lived, and by whom they were supported; still keeping up the metaphor of the shepherd and flock. This the Lord is said to do because he suffered it to be done, yea, ordered it to be done, as a punishment for their sins.

Geneva Study Bible

A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

36. Cp. Zechariah 11:3.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 36, 37. - The prophet seems in his spirit to hear the lamentation to which in ver. 34 he summoned the "shepherds." A voice of the cry should be, Hark I the cry (omitting "shall be heard"); the clause is an exclamation. Hath spoiled; rather, is spoiling (or, laying waste). The peaceable habitations; rather, the peaceful fields (or, pastures). Are cut down; rather, are destroyed; literally, are brought to silence (comp. Jeremiah 9:10). Jeremiah 25:36

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The prophet is already hearing in spirit the lamentation to which in Jeremiah 25:34 he has called them, because Jahveh has laid waste the pastures of the shepherds and their flocks, and destroyed the peaceful meadows by the heat of His anger. - In Jeremiah 25:38, finally, the discourse is rounded off by a repetition and expansion of the thought with which the description of the judgment was begun in Jeremiah 25:30. As a young lion forsakes his covert to seek for prey, so Jahveh has gone forth out of His heavenly habitation to hold judgment on the people; for their (the shepherds') land becomes a desert. The perff. are prophetic. כּי has grounding force. The desolation of the land gives proof that the Lord has arisen to do judgment. חרון היּונה seems strange, since the adjective היּונה never occurs independently, but only in connection with חרב (Jeremiah 46:16; Jeremiah 50:16, and with עיר, Zechariah 3:1). חרון, again, is regularly joined with 'אף י, and only three times besides with a suffix referring to Jahveh (Exodus 15:7; Psalm 2:5; Ezekiel 7:14). In this we find justification for the conjecture of Hitz., Ew., Gr., etc., that we should read with the lxx and Chald. חרב . The article with the adj. after the subst. without one, here and in Jeremiah 46:16; Jeremiah 50:16, is to be explained by the looseness of connection between the participle and its noun; cf. Ew. ֗335, a.